Archive Record

Box 31-341 contains 10 wool mufflers and 2 samples of the material in two patterns of varying color combinations. All mufflers have sections cut out and some have fabric company labels sewn near the fringe edge stating "Churchill Handwoven." Cardboard labels are stapled to each muffler with style numbers of 1678 and 1679 and pattern numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13 and 15. Some of the labels also have dimensions noted of 11"x48" and 12"x50". The mufflers are woven in an alternating weft and warp surface twill weave and a balanced twill weave.

System of arrangement

The Sample Collection is organized into various 'series.' The term series may have been applied to this collection when Churchill Weavers hired an archivist in 2002 to process its archive. A copy of the Guide to the Weaving Archive produced by Virginia Daley, project archivist, accompanies the collection. This guide indicates that the bulk of the textile samples are arranged into the following series: Year-Box Series, Cloth Number Series, Early Style Number Series and Master Sample Series. The original arrangement of the boxes was kept during the processing of the weaving samples at the Kentucky Historical Society. The original Churchill Weavers numbers are written on the box labels along with the new box numbers.The Cloth Number Series was the earliest form of numbering weaving fabrics. Woven fabrics were assigned cloth numbers regardless of the final product (yardage, throws, scarves, etc.) In the early cloth number scheme, different cloth numbers would be assigned to exact fabric that different only in color. Later, single cloth numbers reflect not only a wide range of variant patterns and colors but also variations in the weave caused by different yarns. These Cloth Numbers run from 1 up to 399. The cloth/style number scheme runs from about 400 to 999. These early style numbers reflect a number assigned to a final product and often refer to the cloth number as the type of fabric used. Around 1933 Churchill Weavers started a coded style number scheme to indicate the type of product, the year created, and the number of products in that line. The coded system is the primary organizing principle behind the Master Sample Series. Churchill Weavers began with four digit style numbers and then later incorporated five digits to clarify the dating on items produced. The first digit in the style number identifies the type of product, 1xxxx refers to scarves, 2xxxx bags, 3xxxx baby blankets, 4xxxx throws, 5xxxx stoles, 6xxxx yardage, 7xxxx cravats, 8xxxx ready-to-wear, and 9xxxx is linens. The date can be determined by the second and third digits. If the number is 35476, the baby blanket was designed in 1954. The last digit identifies the number within that product line, i.e. the baby blanket was 76th in that 1954 line. Experimentals in the collection incorporate a letter as the second digit, for example, 3D59. This can be confusing as experimentals through to 1938, x0xx, have a '0' in the second digit. The second largest series is the Year-Box Series, which is arranged chronologically by year and there under by box number. The format is like 1932-5. The sequence of boxes within a specific year generally reflects the style numbering sequence, i.e. the scarves (1xxx) will be in the earlier boxes and the cravat yardage (7xxx) will be in the latter boxes of any given year. In each series, there are boxes labeled as "Outside Purchases" and "Unidentified" objects. Materials of a particular product type, for example, outside purchased scarves, are grouped under the 1xxxxs series of scarves. Outside Purchases refer to items not made by Churchill Weavers, but were acquired because of their similarity or "potential applicability to Churchill lines." Unidentified items are items that Ms. Daley could not find style numbers for during her archival project.